BULLETIN 1288, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Plants of suitable size and age for an early crop, if produced 
locally, would have to be grown in hotbeds and coldframes instead 
of in open beds. This would necessitate some additional expense, but 
it would soon be repaid by the increased returns. 
Southern-grown early tomato plants have been used to some extent 
by northern tomato growers during the past eight years: in fact, 
more than 30,000.000 of these southern-grown plants were shipped 
into Indiana in 1923. Some of the largest northern companies 
manufacturing tomato products are establishing plant-growing con- 
nections in the South as a means of providing or enlarging their 
supply of early plants. These companies furnish their own seed and 
either grow the plants themselves or have them grown under the 
supervision of their men. Special effort is made to produce large, 
stocky, healthy, well-grown plants which are at least 6 weeks old at 
the time of shipment. 
Fig. 4. — Outline man of the United States, showing the relation of temperature to the 
distribution of tomato leaf-spot. The isotherms and temperature figures indicate the 
average monthly temperature for August: other figures show the average percentages 
of tomato crops destroyed by leaf-spot from 101S to 1021 
Early plants produced in the South for planting in the North 
should be grown under good culture and from high-grade seed. 
They should be reasonably well hardened to withstand shipment, but 
their growth should not be appreciably checked nor their stems 
allowed to become tough and woody. Sowing the seed rather thinly, 
so that the plants will have plenty of room, and using a fertilizer 
containing a liberal proportion of potash and a small quantity of ni- 
trogen will aid materially in producing uniform well-grown plants. 
A slow steady growth without serious check is essential. Where the 
plant beds are irrigated the water may be withheld for a few days 
prior to shipping. Much depends upon lifting the plants carefully 
in order to retain the largest possible portion of their root system. 
Careful packing for shipment will also aid materially in getting 
the plants to their destination in good condition. The weather, 
wliicli also has a marked effect on type of growth, is. however, 
always an uncertain factor. 
